Light bulb socket

ABSTRACT

An improvement in a light bulb socket in the form of a generally U-shaped removably mounted base member. The base member is adapted to fit in the bottom of the socket and includes a bight portion and two leg portions. The bight portion has a base contact mounted thereon and the two leg portions are resiliently movable toward each other. When the leg portions are pinched together, the base member is insertable into the socket. When the pinching force is removed from the leg portions the base member is force fit into the bottom of the socket.

United States Patent 1 [191 Cottone et al.

[451 Oct. 7, 1975 [54] LIGHT BULB SOCKET [73] Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates,

Chicago, Ill.

22 Filed: Sept. 12, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 396,604

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,922,022 8/1933 Barnett 339/180 X 2,024,547 12/1935 2,158,852 5/1939 2,357,311 9/1944 Carlson et al. 339/206 L 2,688,669 9/1954 Quill 339/180 X 2,751,568 6/1956 Despard 339/99 L 2,824,183 2/1958 Marasco et al.. 339/61 R UX 3,138,420 6/1964 Fitzgerald 339/61 L Primary ExaminerRoy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J. Staab Attorney, Agent, or FirmCoffee & Sweeney [5 7] ABSTRACT An improvement in a light bulb socket in the form of a generally U-shaped removably mounted base member. The base member is adapted to fit in the bottom of the socket and includes a bight portion and two leg portions. The bight portion has a base contact mounted thereon and the two leg portions are resiliently movable toward each other. When the leg portions are pinched together, the base member is insertable into the socket. When the pinching force is removed from the leg portions the base member is force fit into the bottom of the socket.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures LIGHT BULB SOCKET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvements in light bulb sockets. 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art Light bulb sockets have been known in the art and have enjoyed a great deal of use and a variety of different applications. A conventional light bulb socket generally includes an outer casing having an interior forming a cup for receiving an end of the light bulb therein. A side terminal and a base terminal are provided which communicate with the cup and connect to an electrical power source. A side electrical contact, which forms the longitudinal wall of the cup, is connected to the side terminal. A base means which forms the bottom of the cup has a base electrical contact secured thereto which is connected to the base terminal. The light bulb when received within the cup, touches the side contact and base contact thereby completing a circuit and .causing the bulb to light.

It has been found that the light sockets of the type described, when used for commercial signs, develop some problems due to wear and corrosion caused by rela tively heavy use and exposure to the outside elements. It has been found that the base means as described above is the portion which is subject to the most wear and corrosion. In view of this, in the past, whenever a light bulb was changed and it was found that the base means had deteriorated, the whole socket was replaced. The removal of a whole socket when only a portion thereof is worn is expensive and time consuming to effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of this invention to provide an improved means of replacing only a portion of a light bulb socket that is worn thereby saving time and money. More particularly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved base means which can be easily inserted in and removed from an otherwise conventional light bulb socket.

Thcse and other objects are accomplished by one form of the invention currently contemplated which provides a generally U-shaped removably mounted base member. The base member includes a bight portion having the case contact mounted thereon for engagement with the base terminal and two leg portions which are resiliently movable toward each other. When the leg portions are pinched or moved toward each other, the base member is insertable into the cup of the light bulb socket. When the leg portions are released after insertion, the base member snuggly fits within the bottom of the cup.

Each leg is provided with a grasping means formed near the free end thereof which is adapted to receive the ends of a pinching-type tool. In this manner, the base member may be inserted and removed quickly without the necessity of replacing the whole socket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a commercial sign;

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal section through a light bulb socket employing the improvement of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view taken generally in the direction of line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the improvement of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A portion of a commercial sign which is luminated by light bulbs is shown in FIG. 1. The light sign is seen to generally include a socket supporting structure 10 which has a plurality of light bulb sockets, generally designated 12, mounted therein. In each of the sockets 12 there is mounted a light bulb 14. In an ordinary case the light bulbs will form a predetermined configuration such as lettering or other designs on the supporting structure 10. When electricity is provided to the sockets 12 the light bulbs 14 light thereby highlighting the desired configuration.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a light bulb socket 12 is shown in greater detail. The socket 12 is seen to generally comprise a generally cylindrical outer casing 16 made of suitable insulating material having screw threads 18 formed thereon. The socket 12 is adapted to be screwed into one of a plurality of supporting structure openings which have mating threads 20 formed on the interior thereof. When a socket 12 is screwed into an opening, an annular flange 22 forming the top of the casing 16 (FIG. 2) abuts the supporting structure 10.

The socket 12 has an interior, generally designated 24, forming a cup for receiving an end of a light bulb 14 (shown in phantom) therein. The longitudinal surface of the cup 24 comprises a hollow open ended side electrical contact 26 having threads formed thereon for engagement with mating threads on the end of a light bulb (FIG. 2). Base means, generally designated 28, forms the bottom of the cup 24 and is seen to generally comprise a generally U-shaped base member 30 having a base electrical contact 32 attached thereto for engagement with the bottom of a light bulb which has been screwed into the socket 12 (FIG. 2). The light bulb 14 can be screwed into the socket 12 so that it contacts both the side contact 26 and base contact 32.

The side contact 26 is electrically connected to a terminal 34 which is electrically connected to one polarity of an electrical power source (not shown). The base contact 32 is electrically connected to the other polarity of the power source. Thus, when the bulb 14 is screwed into socket 12, the power source is connected to provide electricity to illuminate the bulb.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4 in greater detail, the base member 30 is separate from socket 12 and is seen to generally include a bight portion 38 having the base contact32 mounted thereon and two leg portions 40 and 42 extending from the bight portion. The base member 30 is resilient so that leg portions 40 and 42 are movable toward one another so that the member 30 can be inserted into and removed from the the socket 12. To this end there is provided grasping means 44 in the form of a hole in the end of each leg portion 40 and 42 adapted to receive the ends of a plier-like pinchingtype tool 46 (FIG. 4). The leg portions 40 and 42 are pinched together by inserting the ends of the pinching tool 46 into the holes 44.

The base member 30 is readily insertable into the interior 24 of the socket 12 by placing the ends of the pinching tool 46 into holes 44 and pinching the leg portions 40 and 42 together. The base member 30 is fixed into place after insertion at the bottom of the cup 24 when the pinching force is eliminated by removing the pinching tool 46 thereby causing the base member to snuggly fit within the interior 24 of the socket 12. The base member 30 is easily removed by merely pinching the leg portions 40 and 42 together as described above and lifting it out of the socket In the above manner, a worn base member 30 can be replaced without replacing the whole socket.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A lightbulb socket comprising:

an outer casing having an interior forming a cup for receiving an end of a lightbulb therein;

a longitudinal wall forming the interior of said cup having a side contact electrically connectable to an electrical power source; and

a compressible removably mounted generally U- shaped base member forming the bottom of said cup including a bight portion having a base contact mounted thereon which is electrically connectable to an electrical power source, and two leg portions which are resiliently movable toward each other, whereby said base member is removable when said leg portions are moved toward each other.

2. The light socket of claim 1 wherein each leg portion has grasping means formed near the free end thereof adapted to receive the ends of a pinching-type tool.

3. The light socket of claim 2 wherein said grasping means is a hole. 

1. A lightbulb socket comprising: an outer casing having an interior forming a cup for receiving an end of a lightbulb therein; a longitudinal wall forming the interior of said cup having a side contact electrically connectable to an electrical power source; and a compressible removably mounted generally U-shaped base member forming the bottom of said cup including a bight portion having a base contact mounted thereon which is electrically connectable to an electrical power source, and two leg portions which are resiliently movable toward each other, whereby said base member is removable when said leg portions are moved toward each other.
 2. The light socket of claim 1 wherein each leg portion has grasping means formed near the free end thereof adapted to receive the ends of a pinching-type tool.
 3. The light socket of claim 2 wherein said grasping means is a hole. 